Friday, July 06, 2007

I heard on the radio a week or so ago that July 7, 2007 is supposed to be an especially auspicious day for a wedding. Something to do with 07-07-07 I think. That report led me to dust off this piece for mandolin quartet (or mandolin orchestra) that I put together in 2002 by combining two short wedding marches that I had written long ago. See the score and parts webpage for a little more background.

It's a potentially fun piece for mandolin ensemble and I encourage you to give it a try. It can be played by full mandolin orchestra or mandolin quartet. The first mandolin part can even be played solo or with simple guitar chord accompaniment.

The recording leaves much room for improvement but I settled for getting most of the notes correct. I just tried to give a reasonable idea of how the piece might sound. I played guitar for the bass line and octave mandolin for the mandola part. I tried capoing the octave at the 7th fret but the mental gymnastics presented by the capo were more difficult than the physical gymnastics of playing the part without it.

I don't recommend this arrangement for use as an actual wedding march because it would be too long for all but the larger cathedrals. It would work fine as pre or post ceremony music and could certainly fit into a program of background music at a reception. Let me know if you find an interesting use for the piece.